he metticulously arranged the horns
and the rhythm guitar
and the grunts of his voice
in a way that made all of it sound
like an extention of the rhythm guitar.


all of those sounds weaving in and out
to create layers and layers of rhythm.



and what's more,
he was able to produce the band to sound that way,
live... on stage.


all of those grunts
were vocal cues he'd give to the horn players
to ensure that the "mix" was proper.

as a band leader, he could adust the sound
of every instrument in the mix by grunting cues at his band members...

as if he was a rap producer sliding a knob
to make the bass drum louder in the mix.




everything in the band was so tight...
but not in the stilted way that
prince's JB songs are...

it was tight in a way that still allowed for syncopation
that still felt spontaneous.